F4: Robertson does the double as Jake Hughes is confirmed F4 champion

Donington, Sunday 29 September-HHC Motorsport’s Charlie Robertson was victorious in both of today’s BRDC F4 races at Donington Park, with his performances enough to give him the runners-up spot in the drivers’ standings.

Jake Hughes was also officially crowned champion for Lanan Racing after taking sixth and fourth places from the final two races, leaving the results of the championship beyond doubt.

Robertson’s haul from this weekend, with two wins and a fourth gave him 78 points, a record tally across any race weekend this season, and was enough to lift him to second in the final championship standings, having started the weekend in fifth. Robertson’s double win today is also the first time any driver has secured more than one win across an F4 weekend.

Seb Morris was confirmed as the third place driver in the series, although that position was in threat during the final race after being spun around on lap one at the Melbourne hairpin. He mounted a great recovery drive though to rise from 18th to 10th, ensuring he pipped Matty Graham to the honour by four points.

16yr old Charlie Robertson is the first driver to win two F4 races in a weekend

Hughes wins £25,000 and a prize test with leading Formula 3 squad Carlin after claiming the title, with the lead trio all receiving watches from luxury manufacturer BRM for their finishing positions in the championship.

Robertson described his drive in race two as the ‘race of his life’ after powering from fifth on the grid to victory. He was sixth at the end of the first lap but fought back brilliantly to take the win, setting a string of fastest laps before overtaking long time race leader Struan Moore for victory with two laps remaining. Robertson’s team mate, Brazilian Gustavo Lima, was third, claiming his first podium in F4. Privateer James Greenway took fourth ahead of Jake Dalton and Jake Hughes.

Jake Hughes is the BRDC F4 with Lanan racing

Having set the fastest lap of the weekend, Robertson started race three from pole position and after making a good start, was able to pull away from his rivals to take a second win in succession. But behind him, Dalton and Matt Mason were engaged in a race long duel for second, with the position changing hands on several occasions until Dalton made the decisive move on the final lap, leaving Mason to settle for third, his first F4 podium. Hughes ended his campaign with fourth having started 11th on the grid, ahead of the equally impressive Raoul Hyman (HHC) who claimed fifth having started 12th, with Greenway rounding out the top six.

Robertson exclaimed afterwards: “I came into this weekend in fifth place in the championship and to come out of it in the runners up position is fantastic. Taking two wins today and being the first person to do that in a weekend is amazing. I’m really pleased with my weekend and the championship so I’d like to say a big thanks to HHC Motorsport and my parents who have helped me make this happen this weekend.”

Champion Hughes commented: “It feels incredible and it still hasn’t sunk in yet! It’s crazy to think that this time last year F4 had only just been announced and we didn’t know what we were going to be doing with what team. My decision to sign with Lanan Racing has been totally vindicated by winning the championship. I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me, it’s been an incredible year. I’ve made a few mistakes but I feel I’ve learned from them and I come out of this championship bigger, better and stronger and winning races. To say now that I’m the BRDC Formula 4 champion, with the drivers that are in it and the amount of talent that’s been in the series since the start of the year is just incredible.”

Hughes also claimed the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup award, having secured six pole positions throughout the course of the season earning the end of season £1,000 prize, while Douglas Team E-Lites’ Gosia Rdest was the recipient of the Who Zooms Award, sponsored by telecommunications company Yoozoom, earning £5,000 for overtaking the most amount of cars during the course of the season.